The Markow Family Tree

In the village Glushki [Vasilkov County]. Leaseholder Meyer Shimonovich MIRKO, his wife Sura, their sons 1.Yos, his wife Tovba, and 2.Shimon, his wife Khinya, their son Yos. Must move to Belotserkov in 1809.

It was previously thought that Khana Leibova and "Khinya (Duvidova)" were two different people. Here is a full discussion of why I thought that, and why I now believe they are the same person. "Khana Leibova" appeared as the wife of Shimon in the 1795 revision, but in 1808 the wife of Shimon is simply "Khinya" with no patronymic. It seemed odd to me that of all the surviving children of Shimon, all were born around 1801–1813, and none were born in the 1790s, even though they were married since at least 1791 (the year of birth of their first son Yos who appeared in 1795 but apparently did not survive. He had a brother with the same name born in 1801). Did his wife suddenly start having healthy children who all survived, or was this a different wife? Next, I knew that the names Khinya and Khana were referred to in late-19th century metrical records by different Hebrew names (חנה vs חיניה). Furthermore, the two old men Yudko and Avrumko Duvidovichi were called "uncles" of Shimon's children. They can't be brothers of Shimon, as then they would have the patronymic Meyerovich, not Duvidovich. Therefore, I assumed they were brothers of Shimon's wife Khinya, and thus I concluded that Khinya was a daughter of Duvid, not of Leib. On the other hand, it could be that by "uncle" they really meant "grand-uncle." It seems likely, as there would be a huge age gap between the children of Shimon and their cousins on their mother's side, as if they were actually two different generations. Now I think they really are two different generations. Next, the age of Khana and Khinya would have to be around the same. The 1795 revision gives Khana's year of birth as 1775. While Khinya's age is not specified in the 1808 document, we can deduce by the ages of her children that she was likely born in the 1770s. Of course, being around the same age is not a proof that they are the same person, but it shows that it is possible. Regarding their names, I have discovered that "Khana" and "Khinya" were used interchangeably in the early 1800s. For example, in 1818 it is written that the "mother" of a certain Itsko Sokolovsky is "Khinya," born in 1762; in 1829 the "mother" of the same Itsko is "Khana," also born in 1762. Name variants could be even further from the original, as in the case of the mother of Gersh Zusevich MARKOV, who in 1870 is called "Khana," and the very next year is called "Khisya." Regarding the odd gap in the births of Shimon's children between 1791 and 1801, there are other possible reasons to explain it besides there being a different wife. They could have moved to a different place, where they had access to a doctor, or where they were better separated from people and animals and the diseases they carried. In fact, we know they moved from Pology to Glushki between 1795 and 1808. Another possibility is that they did have children in that "gap" period, but they were hidden from census takers. But wouldn't we eventually have evidence of these children, bearing the surname MARKOV and the patronymic Shimonovich? Or children of those children? Not if they were girls! They would have been married off at a very young age, as was typical in those days, and having changed their last name there would be no way for us to find them. Census evasion was very common, and I will not list the countless examples I have seen. As it turns out, there may have been nothing unusual about the birth and survival rate of Shimon's children, and nothing that would indicate a second marriage. The Ashkenazi Jewish naming custom was to name children after deceased ancestors, and if Khana Leibova were the mother of Shimon's children we would expect them and their descendants to have the name Leib. In fact, Shimon had a son and a grandson named Leib, while the name is almost non-existent among the other Markov branches. In the case of the grandson, his three brothers were named after known ancestors, and so in all likelihood he was too. I have found probably 90% of all Markovs (originating in Belaya Tserkov) from the 19th century, and all those bearing the name are descendants of this particular Leib, whether through Khana or through Avrum Leibov (b.1788). This brings us to our final question: what is the relation of Khana Leibova to those other Markovs not clearly connected to Meyer Shimonovich? After all, if Yudko and Avrumko Duvidovichi are great-uncles of Shimon's children, then they could be brothers of Shimon's mother, whose name we do not know. The 1834 revision calls the two Duvidovichi "uncles" of Avrum Leibov, so we can confidently say that Duvid had a son named Leib, and this is probably the father of both Avrum and Khana. While it is still possible that there were two different Leibs, one of them being a brother of Shimon's mother, there is one piece of evidence that I think makes a very strong case for Avrum and Khana being siblings and thus children of the same Leib. There was a custom that if a child becomes orphaned, they are to live with their older sister. This was probably because she was the first to be married and become financially stable through her husband, and they would have the means to take care of the orphaned children. It just so happens to be that Khana was about 13 years older than Avrum (born 1775 and 1788). It seems that Avrum's parents died at a young age, and that is why he lived with his older sister's family and took on the Markov surname despite not being related by blood to Meyer Shimonovich. Khana had a son named Leib born in 1806, which means their father had died in or before 1806, when Avrum was not older than 18. With a difference of 13 years between these two siblings, I imagine that Khana was the oldest daughter of Leib, and Avrum the youngest child, while the middle children do not appear because they were older than Avrum and probably able to live by themselves. Why then does Avrum Leibov appear in 1818 living with Shimon's brother Yos Markov instead of with Shimon? Because Shimon had probably died by then (he does not appear in 1818 or any subsequent document). While already an adult, Avrum may have continued to live with Shimon's family because he was not financially stable himself, whereas Yos had no problems with money (he would later become a merchant). It may also be useful to explain why Moshko Khaimov, another nephew of the Duvidovichi, did not live with Meyer Shimonovich's family; he was older and probably financially stable, and he was not as closely related (Moshko was Khana's cousin, whereas Avrum was her own brother).